Wednesday, March 30, 2011

A look at Local Internet Marketing

Every day millions of consumers are searching for local products and services on search engine directories such as Google, Yahoo! and Bing. In fact, there are over 1 billion local searches conducted each month across these search engines, and it’s estimated that 86% of individuals who research local businesses online will follow up with a phone call or in-store visit. The trick to mastering local internet marketing, however, lies in the ability to get listed on the first page of these search engines.

Typically a user who types in a search query with a local identifier, let’s pretend it’s “mechanic San Francisco”, can see up to 7 results for local mechanics in the surrounding areas. Since the search engine’s primary goal is to serve up listings that are most relevant to what the consumer is seeking, it is very rare that a consumer will actually go past the first 10 local listings before they find a mechanic they are looking for and either click through to his website, or place a call directly. Often, consumers associate quality of company with search ranking, and thus the companies who enjoy top 10 rankings stand to get the bulk of the website traffic, and consequently, the majority of the business.

So how do you get your company to be listed within those first 10 spots? The answer is Localized Search Engine Optimization, or as we call it LSEO. Essentially, LSEO is the process of formatting your website to meet the technical quality standards issued by the individual search engines, and then work to continuously develop fresh content and build inbound links which enhance your website’s reputation. If done properly, you can propel your company’s local listings in as soon as one month’s time. For example, in May 2010, we experienced our most dramatic success yet, when we took a small business from the 49th ranked local position on Google to the 4th local spot in only 2 weeks time! They have since had their listing shown over 3,500 times, seen a more than 200% increase in website traffic, and received numerous phone calls for their services.

If any of that explanation sounded like technical jargon that you want no part of, we have a solution for you too. The Local SEO team at TRS has proven experience helping small and mid-sized businesses harness the power of Search Engine Marketing. Our expert staff can diligently manage your online listings across Google, Yahoo! and Bing to help increase your rankings and give you access to consumers who are actively searching for your products and services. Best of all, unlike traditional print media, online marketing solutions are completely transparent so you can track everything from number of ad displays, to website clicks, and even phone calls – making your ROI calculations easier than ever!